The Boston Red Sox enjoyed the most electrifying win of their season thus far on Friday night, but lost Hunter Dobbins for the remainder of the campaign to a torn ACL in the process. The team won, but at a major cost. This outcome should force chief baseball officer Craig Breslow to back up his own words.
Hunter Dobbins tore his ACL.
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) July 12, 2025
Richard Fitts has been called up.
In an appearance on The Greg Hill Show, Breslow made it clear that the Red Sox are still evaluating their team needs ahead of the July 31 trade deadline, but starting pitching, particularly finding someone to slot in behind Garrett Crochet, would go a long way.
Well, after losing Dobbins, the need for starting pitching suddenly becomes even greater.
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Red Sox must add starting pitching if they plan on buying at the trade deadline
For much of this season, it's felt as if it's been Crochet and a whole bunch of question marks behind him. Lucas Giolito and Bryan Bello have been great of late, but are those guys the Red Sox should trust to start the second and third games of a potential postseason series? Probably not. Dobbins wasn't lighting the world on fire, but he was a rock-solid back-end starter for the most part in his rookie season. Those players might not sell tickets, but they're valuable.
Whether the Red Sox can get their dream No. 2 starter behind Crochet or not, adding pitching is a must. Right now, Boston's rotation consists of Crochet, Bello, Giolito, Walker Buehler, and, I guess, Richard Fitts, who they just sent down to Triple-A prior to the injury. Tanner Houck is on his way back from an injury of his own, but he was completely lost before landing on the IL. With how inconsistent Giolito, Bello, and Buehler have been, it'd be insane to just run with the team they have past the trade deadline.
Given the need was clear before Dobbins got hurt and Breslow made that public, the last thing he can afford to do would be to go back on his word, especially after trading Rafael Devers away. The Red Sox have the talent to make it to the postseason even without Devers, thanks largely to an incredibly weak AL, but Breslow must play a vital role in getting the team there. The Red Sox have prospects to trade and money to spend. It's go time.